Appliance for removing obstructions from closet-traps, soil-pipes, &amp;c.



UNITED STATES PATi-:NT OFFICE.

ABRAHAM THOMASICOOPER, OF FINSBURY PARK, ENGLAND.

APPLIANCEFOR REMOVING-OBSTRUCTIONS FROM CLOSET-TRAPS, SOIL-PIPES, dc.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 674,197, dated May 14, 1901.

Application filed December 28, 1897. Serial No. 664,043. (No model.)

. To a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ABRAHAM THOMAS COOPER, fitter, a subject of the Q ueen of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at No. 92 Morayv road, Finsbury Park, in the county of Middlesex, England, have invented a certain new and useful Improved Appliance for Removing Obstructions from Closet Traps, Soil- Pipes, Drains, Stack-Pipes, and the Like, (for Which I have obtained a patent in Great Britain, No. 20,066, bearing date November 7, 1892,) of which the following is aspeciiication.

This invention relates to improvements in appliances for removing obstructions from closet-traps, soil-pipes, drains, stack-pipes,

and the like; and it consists in a novel combination of handle, rigid plates, elastic disk, and ports. In order that it and the best means of carrying it into practical effect may be thoroughly understood, I will describe both in detail, referring in so doing to the accompanying gures,which are to be taken as part of this specification and read therewith.

Figure l is a sectional elevation of an appliance made according to the present invention. Fig. 2 is a plan corresponding therewith. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation illustrating the use of my invention on the drain from a basin. Fig. lis'a sectional elevation illustratingthe use of the same appliance in a closet. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation illustrating the use of the same appliance in a rain-water gutter to clear the stack-pipe. Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of a modiiication.

a is the handle of the appliance. It is represented as a plain rod fitted with a crutch top. The particular shape and material of it are both immaterial, and either may be of any which is convenient.

b is a fiat metal plate c is a disk of rubber and is the operative member of theappliance.

dis a second iiat metal plate, and e indicates holding-screws.

The metal plates b and d and the rubber disk c stand in planes at right angles with the axis of the handle and are held therein and to the handle by, preferably, screws, as described more fully farther on. They are shown as circular in shape; but they may be of any shape, as also explained more particularly farther on.

The plate b serves as a rigid backing-plate to the rubber disk c. In diameter it is less than that of the drain-pipe in which the appliance is to beused. It is necessary that this dierence in diameter be sufficient to allow of the rubber disk being forced intoa cup shape as the appliance is pushed into the pipe and afterward turning inside out as the handle is pulled back without being damaged by the edge of the said plate. The removal of the plate will at any time adapt the appliance for use in a smaller pipe than that for which it was made.

With reference to the diskc, which l have already spoken of as the operative member of the appliance, it must be pointed out that it must be of rubber and rubber of good quality. Common rubber is almost as inetticient as leather, and leather will not answer the purpose of my invention, because it is too stiff. A disk of leather fastened to the end of a rod can be pushed into and alonga pipe of that same diameter or, at any rate, of one not much smaller; but it Wouldnot make an air-tight joint with the side of the pipe if it were pushed hard enough to cup it, because the edge would then buckle, and the disk would not turn inside out when the handle was pulled back. My invention requires rubber, because it is elastic. The central portion c of the disk is made thicker than the edge, because it is necessary thatthat portion should be rigid, and the annulus c2, between the central portion and the outer annulus c3 is intermediate in this respect. It is equally necessary that the outer annulus c8 (the one next the edge) should be thin enough to cup and afterward turn back without buckling sufficiently to break the air-tight joint between the disk and the pipe. Further, the thickness of this annulus gradually ydiminishes in the direction of the edge. The latter is as thin as is consistent with proper strength, inasmuch as the thinner the disk is pipes, drain-grates, sink-grates, and the like of a range of sizes, instead of being restricted to one only.

The second plate d is about the same di suck that may be set up in pulling the appli-A ance out of a pipe which it fits tightly. If there were only one screw under such circumstances,the central hole in the disk would be expanded and made large enough to let the plate be pulled backward through it.

The three preceding paragraphs indicate the use of my appliance to clear a drain-pipe into which it has been pushed without using it as a plumbers force is used.

The appliance made and combined as above described is adapted to be used as aforce by being provided with ports and a cavity in the following manner:

e e are ports in the rubber disk. There may be only one or more of these. Their number is a matter of no moment; but as many as there may be all open upward within the edge of the disk b, for a reason which will appear farther on.

f is a cavity in the under face of the disk and of the same size as the plate b. This cavity discharges the function of a cylinder.

f is an automatic valve to be used on applianccs made for use in drains of large size. It is made, preferably, of rubber and is held in position by any suitable means. Its seat is the under face of the central portion c of the disk, and its function is to insure the perfect closure of the ports. This arrangement is useful in stubborn cases, as the obstruction must yield to the action of the appliance, although the effect upon it at first may be to harden or consolidate it.

The appliance is used in the following manner for expelling an obstruction from the drain-pipe of a sink or basin: In the case of either of the latter the drain-pipe is comparatively small and the grate is very often made fast to its seat. In either case the pipe is too small for the appliance to be thrust into it, and it is to meet such a case that the appliance is provided with the ports and cavity. The sink or basin, as the case may be, is filled nearly full of water. The disk c is then placed upon the bottom of the basin, so as to completely cover all the ports in the grate g and to rest by its annulus c3 outside and clear of them. (See Fig. 3.) The under face of the disk c outside the cavity f forthwith attaches itself to the adjacent surface, and the handle a is worked up and down. As it is pulled up the plate b uncovers the ports e', through which water flows into the vacuum between the disk c and the surface. This volume of water is forced down the pipe by the next downstroke of the handle, and the working up and down is continued until the obstruction is removed.

When the obstruction to be removed is in a soil-pipe, the pan 1l (see Fig. 4;) is filled nearly full of water and the appliance pushed into the throat of the pan. The thin edge forthwith makes a tight joint with the adjacent surface, and the handled is worked up and down, as already described with reference to Fig. 3.

When the obstruction is in a drain-pipe to the interior of which access can be had, the disk is thrust forward or downward, according to the direction of the drain, cupping itself as it is pushed forward and turning inside out or back again when the handle is pulled back. Of course the appliance 'can be used as a force in a drain or upon the grate of a drain as well as on the grated end of a sink-pipe.

The plates and disk are made of any suitable shape, according as the particular place for which they are intended may require them to be round, square, or oblong, and of any size. The rubber disk must always be large enough to quite include under it all the airpassages through the drain-grate or around it to the drain.

Fig. 5 illustrates the use of the appliance to clear a circular and straight pipe without pushing the disk thereinto. j is a rain-water gutter, and 7c is the stack-pipe, which is supposed to have been choked wat some point of its length. Instead of it now being necessary to take part (at any rate) of -the stack down the disk is applied to the bottom of the gutter. Being flexible it adapts itself to the shape of the latter and bites at once around the socket therein. The handle is then worked up and down, as before described.

Having now described my invention, what I claim isl. The hereinbefore-described combination of handle, rubber disk tapered toward the edge in the way and for the reason specified, rigid backing-plate interposed between the said handle and rubber disk, one or more ports through the said rubber disk, and a holding device, as set forth.

2. The hereinbefore-described combination of handle, rubber disk tapered toward the edge in the way and for the reason specified, rigid backing-plate interposed between the said handle and rubber disk, one or more ports through the said rubber disk, an automatic valve on the under side of the rubber disk and a holding device, as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

ABRAHAM THOMAS COOPER.

Witnesses:

A. E. WILLIAMS, CEAS. ROCHE.

IIO

IIS 

